DIY BUILT-IN STORAGE BENCH TUTORIAL | ONE ROOM CHALLENGE WEEK 3

Well, my friends. Time flies like crazy, and we are on the 3rd week of the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda over at Calling it Home. I am taking the challenge again…yup… I am crazy like that. If you are not familiar with the ORC, click here to read more. And if you want to see my previous room makeovers visit my ORC page.

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Alright but let’s talk business now.

Our little breakfast nook is coming along beautifully. It truly is. I can’t wait to see the finished space and show you our new, stylish breakfast nook.

Just to remind you of what we started with here is the before picture.

I visioned a long sitting and storage bench below the window which not only is stylish in this small breakfast room but pretty practical too. I have some small appliances that I can’t store anywhere but in the garage, because of the lack of storage space in my kitchen, and this storage bench will be the perfect solution for my problem. The bench will have a significant open space below the cushions to hide many many things. Yippie!

Building this storage bench was a piece of cake. And I am kidding you not!

My kiddos traveled back to Hungary for two weeks, so we had ALL the free time to make and create even at 10 p.m at night..:-) BTW, it was the first time for us being without the kiddos for more than a day, and it was awful.

Ok…but we still had a good time. Sometimes we felt like we are in our twenties again and what I could not believe was how clean the house stayed for the entire two weeks. Anyways.

So her we go, we built a bench, and today I am sharing the how-to for this DIY built-in storage bench.:-)

Below is the bench in it’s almost finished state.

Our space was pretty simple to add this built-in storage bench because we had straight lines to follow and our area below the window was relatively small.

As a first step, we removed the window trim, baseboard, and shoe molding so we can build in the frame for the bench evenly.

Then we started securing the frame to the walls. We cut the 2×4 panels to size (which will be different for every space, so I am not listing my measurements). We made sure that we secured those 2x4s to the studs in the walls. Using a level, we nailed them to the wall making sure that the wood panels are even.

We used one of my favorite tools in this world, the KREG JIG POCKET HOLE SYSTEM, to attach the wood pieces together. This tool is fantastic and made our lives so much easier. If you don’t have this tool, I highly recommend getting one (super reasonable pricing, too). Just the perfect tool for DIY-ers.

Ok, Moving on!

After we had built our frame out, we cut a project board to size to cover the front of the bench. We used a wood glue as well as a brad nailer to secure the board to the frame.

Then we added a thin trim board to the front panels to make it look a little more stylish.

As the last step, I painted the bench with a coat of fresh, white paint and it looked beautiful finished.

And then all I needed to do to finish the seating cushion for the top of the bench. We decided to make the seating part from two pieces. And the reason why we did that because we will use the bench for storage as well and I wanted to ensure we can easily lift the top off.

Isn’t that the best storage? Heck yeah!!

Again, I am not sharing measurements because it’s going to be unique for every space and project, but you get the idea of how you can do yours.:-)

We used plywood for the seating part. We cut two pieces of wood to size.Then we added 2x2s to the back of those boards so that the seating cushion won’t move out of the frame.

I bought 3″ foam and an awesome indigo-ish fabric to make the seating part. I was recommended by the foam place not to use a padding between the foam and fabric, but I think it would have been a nice addition. The cushion looks great the way we upholstered it but adding another layer may let the fabric move a little more flexible than how it moves on the foam now.

I secured the fabric to the plywood by using an air nailer. Easy peasy!

And there is our DIY built-in storage bench! I love that this fun piece will hide many things and will serve as a great lounge area for us as well.

And here is a beauty shot with a sneak peek of the round rug that’s going to the nook.:-)

Just a tip if you’re doing that sort of upholstery in the future, it is better to use wadding between the foam and top fabric. It helps the top fabric to slide on the foam so that you can get it to the best place and feels much better to sit on on. It’s basically the same process. Use some spray adhesive to stick the wadding to the foam, then arrange the fabric on top as you normally do.

My foam guy works on a local market. More awkward to get to if you can’t get over there or it isn’t market day, but he knows his stuff and will even fit the wadding and foam into your cover if you take it with you. Definitely always use wadding. I don’t do enough foam work to justify buying it, but another tip is to use an electric carving knife to cut the foam. Might be a helpful tip for one of your readers.

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HEY THERE!

My name is Aniko! A mother to two. A loving wife. A passionate photographer. A lover of all things creative. An artist and a dreamer. I am so happy to have you here and I truly hope you will leave with lots of inspiration and I hope you will return for more!